Temporal and Clonal Progression in a Pediatric Ependymoma Patient Through Multiple Treatments

BackgroundMultiple recurrences after complete resection and irradiation of supratentorial ependymoma are common and frequently result in patient death. However, the molecular basis for treatment resistance, the impact that radiation and other adjuvant therapies have in promoting recurrence, and the use of this information to rationally design effective approaches to treat recurrent ependymoma are unknown. Due to the rarity of these tumors and the even less likely banking of multiple recurrent samples from the same patient, we initiated a study to characterize the evolution of a single patients ependymoma in response to therapy.\n\nMethods and FindingsA combination of high depth, whole genome and exome-based DNA sequencing of germline and tumor specimens, RNA sequencing of tumor specimens, and advanced computational analyses were employed to reconstruct the natural history of a supratentorial ependymoma case in which there were four local recurrences. The findings reveal the extent to which treatment with radiation and chemotherapies resulted in the diversification of the tumor subclonal architecture and shaped the neo-antigen landscape, and provide new insights into possible molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis, treatment response and recurrence.\n\nConclusionsAlthough the recurrent tumors we studied were clearly shaped by therapy, the founding clone was never eradicated by any treatment. We conclude that DNA and RNA sequencing may provide critical prognostic indicators to identify ependymoma patients that should be observed, rather than irradiated, post gross total resection.